Analysis Shows Mobile Water Treatment Market on the Rise

New analysis from Frost & Sullivan, “World Mobile Water Treatment Market,” found that the market earned revenues of $425.7 million in 2009 and estimates this will reach $895 million in 2016.

Escalating demand for high-purity water in industrial and potable applications has triggered growth in the world mobile water treatment market across both mature and emerging economies, the analysis found. Mobile water treatment systems offer purified water for a short term for emergencies, ensuring that production cycles are not hampered. The need for emergency responses in instances such as plant downtime, industrial crisis, facilities maintenance and drinking water shortages is steadily increasing. The world mobile water treatment market exhibits significant growth, creating fresh opportunities and developing new market segments.

Although the outlook for the market looks upbeat, there are some challenges clouding its landscape. The economic downturn discouraged capital investments. Governments and industries worldwide have postponed investments in the water treatment sector due to force. This has caused the world mobile water treatment systems market to grow at a slightly restrained rate.

Huge capital investments and lack of visibility on return on investment (ROI) hinder penetration into the new markets and restrain expansion of fleet size. Significant capital investments are required for owning or expanding fleet size of rental mobile water treatment units. Each unit costs more than $250,000 to $300,000, with no guaranteed break-even period. Thus, this limits the market size. Price sensitivity among end-users is another issue curtailing market progression.

Municipal end-users facing budgetary constraints are reluctant to purchase or rent mobile equipment due to hefty prices. Intense competition in these markets is forcing end-users to cut service costs to remain competitive. High barriers to entry characterize the market, as a handful of large companies dominate the scenario. This is posing a threat to small- and mid-sized companies that have neither the financial wherewithal nor the resources to handle very large projects.

The market for mobile water treatment systems has traditionally been limited to the developed geographies, such as North America, South America and Europe; hence, the global emerging regions of Asia Pacific and Middle East offer untapped potential. Most companies are looking at attaining first-mover advantage in these regions.